Apparently NBC is airing some lame-brained miniseries which attempts to retell some part of Church history. So strange -- it's not even Easter yet. I tell ya' -- no matter how dumb, there are people who will believe anything. I blame the public schools. ;0)

The mini-series, which airs Sunday, January 25th, and Monday, January 26th, is based on the 2005 novel, The Last Templar, written by Raymond Khoury. The novel was on The New York Times bestseller list for 22 months and sold over four million copies.

The novel is similar in many ways to The Da Vinci Code, including its use of the Templars, its reliance on the "Gnostic gospels," and its claim that ancient documents provide definitive proof that Jesus Christ was not divine. USA Today, for example, writes of the mini-series, "The last time you saw this template, it was called The Da Vinci Code."

The novel, according to its website, is "a thought-provoking exploration of religion in today's world, and of historic fact versus faith, particularly regarding the origins of the Catholic Church. Through the investigation into the Templars' history and their mysterious discovery, and though the interplay between Tess - the agnostic, scientific skeptic - and Reilly, who turned to the Church after his father shot himself when Reilly was just a boy, the book presents a spirited look at the early days of the Church and invites the reader to question matters which most of us take at face value."

Carl and Sandra examine some of historical claims of the novel and discuss the ongoing popularity of the Templar mythology.

A couple of years ago, I was asked to appear on a secular talk-radio show to discuss the issue of homosexuals in the priesthood with now-retired Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, a perennial fixture within the “progressive” fringe of dissenting Catholics. He argued the case that homosexuals in the priesthood is no problem at all. I, as you might guess, said exactly the opposite. It was a brief discussion, only about 20 minutes (including a commercial break), but long enough to see two very different approaches to this important issue. What are your thoughts?

Unless mine is the only Catholic blog you go to, you've probably seen the following video:

The folks who made it sent out the following letter:

Dear CatholicVote.com Member,

I’m in Washington for the March for Life, but I just had to stop for moment and give you an update on our latest ad. The response has been tremendous.

On our website, the comment forum has been buzzing, with a few visitors challenging us to try and air our new ad during the Super Bowl.

Well…we like to dream big, but it may be difficult to raise $3 million in a week.But we do know that our ad is making people stop and think -- especially supporters of Barack Obama. We are convinced that we can make a big difference with his ad campaign.And that can only happen with your support.

In only three days, over 250,000 viewers have watched the ad online, and we reached the “Top 10 Most Viewed” on YouTube on Inauguration Day!

The ad ran on Black Entertainment Television, and will be airing on CNN and FOX News in Chicago this weekend. The ad will also air on EWTN today.

We must remember that being right isn’t enough. We must find new methods and new ways to express the eternal truths, to new audieneces.We are seizing this historic moment with a powerful message to defend the sanctity of human life.

And this is only the beginning…

Sincerely,

Brian Burch

P.S.Have you ever heard the phrase, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink?” It means there’s some people you just can’t reach.Recently, a member of our creative team rejected this defeatism saying: “No way… I can make him drink!Take the horse the long way…on a really hot day!”

We need to be just as savvy in delivering the pro-life message. Our latest ad has the ‘audacity’ to challenge every American to embrace life. Please support us today.

Here it is -- season five of the One True Faith with (fellow domer) Michael Voris. If you've never listened to Michael Voris before, buckle your seat belt. If you have heard him before, you know you're in for a challenge.

Here's the description from the site:

The One True Faith is Saint Michael's Media's weekly television program which showcases the truths of the Catholic faith in a lively and exciting manner, presented by multiple Emmy-award winner Michael Voris. Michael tackles a single topic each week, explaining the Catholic faith in an exciting and engaging manner.

UPDATE: I'm bumping this up to the top. Pat Madrid's talk opens with a discussion about how Scott Hahn entered the visible world of Catholic apologetics. It's worth a listen for you fans of Dr. Hahn's work. I'm definitely subscribing to the Fullness podcast (linked at the bottom).

So...several years ago I started straggling back to the faith I always held (but never knew). A pivotal part of that path was attending a Fullness of Truth conference in Corpus Christi, TX. At the conference I was blessed to hear Fr. Corapi, Fr. Pacwa, Doug Barry and several others speak passionately and forthrightly about the faith.

Wonderfully, the conferences are still being held. If you get a chance -- GO!

All that's to say this: Pat Madrid spoke at one and gave the following lecture entitled "Why Be Catholic when You can be Anything Else?" Now the Fullness of Truth folks have put the talk on their new podcast.

Welcome to the first episodeof the Fullness of Truth podcast. In this episode we share a little bit of the mission of Fullness of Truth in a talk given by Patrick Madrid called Why Be Catholic When you can be anything else.

So LIFE magazine and Google have teamed up and have made a photo archive of LIFE photos from the mid 1800s until the present. Below is one that caught my eye (look closely at the center of the rose pedal -- click the image for the high resolution version):

To search the archive, simply search Google and enter the following in the box:

DISCLAIMER:Fred wrote in and wants us to know that while the old Gerry Matatics debates are a good listen, at minute 3:10 of the 7th audio (Matatics's Third Negative) Gerry Matatics brings out heretical traditionalist slant for about a minute and twenty seconds. Forewarned is forearmed:

Congratulations to Fr. Kromholtz, O.P., who recently defended his dissertation entitled: "On the Last Day: The Time of the Resurrection of the Dead according to Thomas Aquinas," S.T.D. diss., University of Fribourg, Switzerland, 2008.

UPDATE: Some folks in the combox are speculating about these speakers' fidelity to the post-V2 Church. Feel free to chime in.

UPDATED UPDATE: Audio Sancto chimed in and put the matter to rest -- it's all good. Also, Audio Sancto pointed to the linking terms of use, which include the following provision (FYI):

If you can, please say three Hail Mary's for the priests who preach these sermons, and ask others to do the same

Roger WilCo!

A few people have written in recently and pointed me to the Audio Sancto Sermon Series. Since there's really some great stuff there, I've been meaning to do a series of several posts where I break down the talks by topic. Unfortunately, I just can't seem to find the time. Rather than keep holding on to these gems, I figured I'd just share the link. To give you an idea of what's there, here are the links from the front page:

This blog is dedicated to bringing you free orthodox Catholic audio. If you have a tip or would like to report a broken link, please e-mail me by clicking the link above.
"Faith then cometh by hearing; and hearing by the word of Christ."
Rom 10:17(DRV)